Former Puma India Executives' Sportswear Startup Agilitas Acquires Mochiko

The Bengaluru-based sportswear startup Agilitas Sports, co-founded by the former Puma India chief along with his ex-colleagues, has acquired Mochiko Shoes Pvt. in an all-cash deal.

The founding team of Agilitas Sports includes Abhishek Ganguly, the former managing director of Puma India and Southeast Asia; Atul Bajaj, the outgoing executive director of sales and operations of Puma India; and Amit Prabhu, the former chief financial officer of Puma India.

The acquisition of Mochiko Shoes—the country's largest sports footwear manufacturer for brands like Adidas, Skechers, and Reebok—marks the first-ever deal since the Puma executives quit their jobs to start Agilitas earlier this year. Agilitas, however, did not disclose the size of the deal.

"Mochiko’s manufacturing capabilities, operational excellence, and strategic partnerships with leading global giants position us to address the government’s clarion call to ‘Make in India’, and to cater to the rising aspirations of an economic superpower with the largest youth population," said Ganguly, chief executive officer and co-founder of Agilitas Sports.

The move also paves the way for Agilitas to make a bigger mark in the sports manufacturing ecosystem at a time when demand for sports shoes and apparel is seeing growth thanks to the rise of the affluent population, increased focus on fitness, and aggressive marketing via celebrity endorsements.

Global footwear majors, looking to strengthen their sourcing, also want to manufacture more from India to remain closer to consumers and increase the speed-to-market, Ganguly told BQ Prime.

Speed-to-market essentially means how fast you can get your product or service on the market—from inception to an actual, purchasable good.

With so much innovation and competition in the marketplace, being the first to debut a new product or feature has its advantages.

Agilitas Sports had also raised funds in May. While the funds advised by Convergent Finance LLP—an investment management and advisory partnership led by Harsha Raghavan—invested Rs 400 crore, an additional Rs 30 crore was raised from individual investors.

Mochiko Shoes works with large international sports brands, including Adidas, Puma, New Balance, Skechers, Reebok, Asics, Crocs, Decathlon, Clarks, and US Polo.

Established in 2008 by Virender Awal and a co-founding team of five members, Mochiko Shoes clocked a revenue of Rs 642 crore in FY23 and is estimated to grow to Rs 820 crore this fiscal, the company said.

Agilitas Sports will retain the entire Mochiko team following the acquisition.

"Joining the Agilitas family propels our ambitions," said Virender Awal, founder and CEO of Mochiko Shoes Pvt., in a statement. "We are now poised to enhance long-term investments, addressing the soaring demand in the sports and athleisure footwear sector. We envision multifold and multifaceted growth in our business over the next 5–6 years."

With fully integrated, end-to-end manufacturing capabilities, Mochiko is the first sports footwear manufacturer in India to receive a Bureau of Indian Standards licence.

The brand is fully compliant with the soon-to-be-implemented quality control orders issued by the government. In July, India mandated a BIS licence for the manufacturing, importing, or selling of footwear in the country in a bid to promote Make-In-India products.

Mochiko has manufacturing units in Dehradun and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, as well as in Noida. According to the statement, the company employs nearly 10,000 people across its operations.